


Hot For Teacher

by tobeconspicuous



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Fluff, Just a bit of fun, Light Angst, Liv knows what's up, M/M, Misunderstandings, Teacher Sonny Carisi, and a fluffy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 07:15:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13071831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tobeconspicuous/pseuds/tobeconspicuous
Summary: “Time to go, say goodbye to Mr..”“Carisi technically, but the kids call me Mr. Sonny.” The sentence was blurted out all at once, an attractive blush began to creep up the back of his neck.Rafael raked his eyes over the younger man’s tall figure and he noticed the blond was doing the same to him. He twisted his mouth into a flirty smile and lowered his tone. “And what can I call you?”





	Hot For Teacher

**Author's Note:**

> This fic stems from something I headcanoned with Robin Hood (kjack89) months ago, I finally got around to writing it.
> 
> Many thanks to BarbaxBenson for their wonderful support for acting as a beta for this fic, to Astronaut_Milky for humouring me, and to those who asked for fluffy Barisi. Love you all.
> 
> We do not own, only enjoy, and we hope you do as well. Feedback is very much appreciated.

As a child Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. always knew what he wanted to be when he grew up. He would announce proudly to the world that he wanted to be a Fireman, or an Astronaut, or a Doctor, or even a Lion Tamer. It wasn’t until Sonny was fourteen, and discovering more about himself than he wanted to, that he finally decided the career he would pursue.

He wanted to be a Priest, he wanted to help people, like his own Priest had helped him. That was until Tony Celestino pressed him against the wall of their high school and proceeded to show Sonny exactly why his chosen profession wasn’t a good idea.

His family wasn’t too enthused about his next choice, Law Enforcement, but he still wanted to help people, and as a police officer he would be able to do that. But the accidental shooting of an unarmed child and the officer who shot him claiming it was “all in the line of duty” made Sonny reconsider his choice again.

Then came his decision to actually study the law. If he became an ADA he would be able to fight for the victims. It was during his first year of study he ran into a group of young children on their way to the Natural History Museum. As Sonny watched a teacher kneel down to comfort a child it was as though someone had flicked a light switch.

When Sonny settled on his final choice his family was relieved. After several years of study he finally graduated from Fordham. Not with a law degree as he initially intended, but with an Elementary Education degree.

He took to the work quickly. He crafted highly educational lesson plans and the parents loved him. However, it was his first grade students which made work an absolute pleasure, even at their worst he knew with his entire being that this is what he wanted to do.

And elementary school students had no issues calling him Sonny either.

After several years of teaching the students of Staten Island, Sonny decided it was time to leave his parents’ sanctuary and carve out one of his own. After several interviews he ended up at a Manhattan charter school. He was looking forward to a new year, a new life, and, of course, new students.

\--

It was a rare afternoon that Rafael Barba did not have any meetings booked, wasn’t due in court, nor had any trials to prepare for, but there he was, sitting in his office at two in the afternoon with nothing but basic paperwork to complete. He had given his assistant, Carmen, the afternoon off and was lost in thoughts of sitting at home with a nice book and a nicer snifter of scotch when his phone rang.

As the name  _ Olivia Benson _ flashed across the screen Rafael rolled his eyes. Of course Liv would call just when he was mentally choosing exactly which bottle he would open. He lifted the phone and swiped to answer.

“What can I do for you Liv?” He tried to keep the annoyance from his tone.

“Rafa,” she sounded breathless. “I need you to do me a huge favour.”

Rafael smirked as he sunk back into his chair. “Bigger than the Lawrence case?”

“I’m being serious Rafael,” Liv snapped down the phone. The prosecutor was glad his friend couldn’t see him rolling his eyes. “I need you to pick up Noah from school-”

“Where’s Lucy?”

“A family emergency,” he could hear Liv’s frustration. “My emergency sitters are unavailable at this short notice and it’s too busy here to spare a detective. You’re my last resort.”

“Clearly,” Raf was more hurt than he should have been. “What if I was busy?”

“You just plead out the Reynold’s case,” Liv scoffed at him.

Raf tried another tactic. “You know I loathe driving-”

“Take the subway then.” Of course Liv had an answer for everything.

Rafael, of course, would never take the subway, he took an Uber instead. And that was how he found himself wandering the brightly decorated corridors of Noah’s elementary school. School had been over for almost an hour, so the usually noise filled corridors were dead silent apart from the echo of voices from the far end of the hall. When Rafael finally made it to the end of the corridor he knocked on the door that read 1C, as Liv had previously instructed, and waited for an answer.

“Come in,” a Staten Island accent called.

When Rafael entered the room he was enthralled by the sight before him. Noah was sitting at a table, pen to paper, drawing something colourful. Next to him sat a young, blond man with blue eyes and the most attractively dimpled smile Rafael had ever seen.

“I’m here to collect Noah?” Rafael winced as he sounded more nervous than he actually was.

At the mention of his name Noah’s eyes snapped up to look at Rafael, he flashed the man a big smile before he looked away and went straight back to his drawing. His teacher then awkwardly stood up and rushed over to greet Rafael with an open palm. As he shook the blond man’s hand he noticed another person sitting at the back of the room. Their eyes flicked up to take in the sight of the handshake before flicking back down to the book they appeared to be looking at.

“Rafa, I presume?” The man beamed at him.

“Rafael,” the prosecutor automatically corrected. “Thank you for staying with Noah-”

The teacher eagerly interrupted with a small breathy laugh. “My pleasure, he’s a bright kid. Don’t tell the others but he’s one of my favorites.”

“His mother will be happy to know that,” Rafael smiled before he turned to Noah. “Time to go, say goodbye to Mr..”

“Carisi technically, but the kids call me Mr. Sonny.” The sentence was blurted out all at once, an attractive blush began to creep up the back of his neck.

Rafael raked his eyes over the younger man’s tall figure and he noticed the blond was doing the same to him. He twisted his mouth into a flirty smile and lowered his tone. “And what can I call you?”

“Sonny,” Rafael raised a single eyebrow. “Or Dominick.”

“Dominick,” Rafael rolled the word around his mouth.

A small cough from the corner made the two of them jump. Dominick’s colleague, who had all but been forgotten, gave them a withering look. Rafael took this as a sign it was time to depart.

“Come on Noah, it’s time to go,” he watched the child grab his drawing before he climbed to his feet. “Say goodbye to Mr. Sonny.”

“Bye, Mr. Sonny,” Noah shouted a decibel too loud.

“Bye Noah,” the teacher smiled at his pupil before turning to face Rafael. “Goodbye, Rafael.”

“Goodbye, Dominick,” Rafael flashed the younger man what he hoped was another flirty smile before walking Noah out of the classroom. When they finally left the building the prosecutor let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He would need to have a conversation with Olivia about giving him advance warning about her son’s more attractive teachers.

\--

“Well that was awkward,” his colleague’s muttered utterance snapped Sonny out of the wistful stare he had certainly thrown Noah’s father as he walked out the door.

Sonny failed to keep a blush from creeping up his neck. “I have no idea what you mean.”

“Uh huh.”

Sonny shoved his things in his bag and followed his colleague out of the classroom. He locked the door behind him and tried to not think of the handsome man that he had just met. If Sonny didn’t know better he could have sworn Rafael was flirting with him.

But Sonny did know better, he had witnessed other teachers dating parents and how disastrous it could become. So he pushed thoughts of the handsome man in the three piece suit out of his mind and hoped by the time he saw him again that the fleeting attraction he had felt would be gone.

\--

Rafael was relieved when he and Noah reached the precinct, he could finally return the child to his mother. As soon as Noah spotted Olivia he let out a shrill squeal and leaped into her arms. Rafael gave the woman an affectionate nod which she returned after lowering her child to the ground.

“Thanks again, Rafael,” Olivia flashed a smile before kneeing to chat to her son. “How was school today?”

Of course Noah blurted out his day all at once. “Mr Sonny played guitar, we sang songs about dinosaurs and let me color with his special pens when we were waiting for Uncle Rafa. See!”

“Wow,” Olivia sounded genuinely enthused about Noah scribbles. “We’ll pop it on the fridge at home.”

“Okay,” Noah eagerly agreed. “Can I go say hi to Fin?”

“Of course,” Liv smiled as her son rushed over to the sergeant. She turned to face her friend. “Did he behave for you?”

“He was fine,” Rafael’s voice was soft.

He didn’t miss the smirk that crept upon his friends face. “And Mr Carisi? Was he fine too?”

“Did you know he was my type when you asked me to pick up your son, or were you just guessing?” Rafael scowled, trying to look more annoyed than flustered at the thought of the young teacher.

The Lieutenant of course saw right through him. “All the moms flirt with him, he never flirts back.”

“He’s probably being professional,” Rafael countered, ignoring the way the teacher’s eyes had raked over his entire form earlier.

Liv reached into her pocket and pulled out a business card from it. She held out the card to Rafael and gestured for Rafael to take it.

“Liv-”

“Just give him a call, Rafa,” Liv smiled gently at the prosecutor. “The worst he can say is no.”

Rafael took the card and mumbled as Liv walked away. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

\--

No matter what he tried Sonny couldn’t get the image of Noah’s father out of his mind. His slightly greying hair, his intensely green eyes and the cocky smirk that graced his handsome features were still fresh in his mind almost a week later. It was driving him to the point of distraction, everywhere he looked Sonny would see something that reminded him of Rafael.

“Sonny, are you even listening to me?” Teresa said with a scowl.

The teacher turned his gaze back to his sister with a sheepish smile. “Sorry Teresa, I’m just a little tired from work.”

“You play with kids all day,” Teresa laughed. “Of course you’re tired. So anyway Patrick said that...”

Once again Sonny was distracted from his sister’s conversation, but this time not by thoughts of Noah’s father. This time he was distracted by Noah’s mother, as the woman herself had just walked through the door. Sonny strained to get a glimpse of the man she was with, the sight made his stomach twist, he felt sick. Ms. Benson was on the arm of another, less attractive by Sonny’s standards, man.

“...and we just laughed and laughed.” Teresa of course was still talking, gossip was her favourite past time. “But you know Patrick, he…”

Sonny watched as Ms. Benson and her partner made their way to the back of the restaurant and slide into one of the private booths. As the man wrapped an arm around the woman’s shoulder Sonny gulped down the burning feeling he got from looking at the couple.

Sonny was aware that some relationships were more open than others, but Sonny himself wasn’t fond of the idea. The few times he had fallen in love, he had fallen hard, deeply, and would have never dreamed of sharing his partner.

He wondered if Rafael knew, if he was okay with it. Would Rafael be hurt by the revelation? Or would he be resigned? Sonny spent the rest of the meal speculating on the relationship between Noah’s parents, and trying not to look every time the couple in the corner laughed together.

Eventually Teresa finished her story and paid for their meal, on Patrick’s card of course, and Sonny was able to flee the restaurant.

“Mr. Carisi,” Ms. Benson’s familiar voice called out to him causing the teacher to freeze. “Having a nice dinner date?”

“Ms. Benson,” Sonny plastered a smile on his face and quickly dragged his sister towards the woman.

“Ed, this is Noah’s teacher,” She said with a smile.

“Mr. Sonny himself?” The man held out a hand for Sonny to shake. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

Sonny shook the man’s hand and forced out a polite greeting. “Pleased to meet you, this is my sister, Teresa. Teresa, Ms. Benson is the mother of one of my students.”

“Charmed,” Teresa piped up.

“We’ll leave you two to your dinner.” Sonny forced another smile before he grabbed his sister's hand once more. As he dragged his sister once more to the exit he forced himself not to look back and throw a glare at the woman.

“I’ll tell Rafael you said hi,” Ms. Benson called out behind him.

Sonny waited until they were a block away from the restaurant before he let out a scream of frustration much to the amusement of his sister. “Do you always act like this when meeting your students parents in public places?”

“Of course not,” Sonny rolled his eyes.

They walked towards the subway, chatting aimlessly about nothing. Just before they reached the staircase to the station Teresa grabbed Sonny’s arm. “So who’s Rafael?”

“No one,” the teacher was a little too defensive with his answer. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh no reason,” Teresa smirked as they descended the stairs. “You turned bright red when that woman mentioned his name.”

His sister’s laughter followed him onto the train, haunting his thoughts as he made his way home. That night while lying in bed Sonny prayed that Ms Benson hadn’t noticed his obvious blush. But a tiny part lived in hope that just maybe Rafael wanted to know how Sonny was, that just maybe he had read the situation wrong, and that just maybe Rafael was interested too.

\--

At least once a day since he had picked up Noah from school Rafael pulled out the business card that Olivia had given him and contemplated calling the teacher. That morning he had received a text indicating that Noah's teacher was potentially very interested at the prospect of dating Rafael. It was the text he was reading while heading out for a coffee on a Saturday morning that caused him to trip over and bump into a stranger.

“Steady now,” A familiar voice was accompanied by large hands which caught him. “You wouldn’t want to hit your head.”

“Mr Carisi,” Rafael breathed out a quick thanks.

“I thought I told you that you were allowed to call me Dominick,” the man’s teasing tone helped Rafael relax.

The two men stood awkwardly looking at one another. Unable to bear with the silence Rafael asked the other man a simple question. “I heard you and Liv ran into each other at a restaurant the other night?”

Rafael watched as a mixture of emotions crossed the younger man’s face, wide eyes followed by a scowl. The man’s face finally settled into a sad smile and a muttered confirmation.

“Liv did tell me that things were a little,” the prosecutor had to reach for the word. “Uncomfortable?”

Another series of emotions ran across Dominick’s face before he finally continued in a quietly sad tone. “I don’t quite know how to phrase this.”

The prosecutor softened his tone. “Just tell me.”

“I-uh,” the younger man stammered, sweat pooling at his brow. “I saw your partner? Wife? With another man.”

Rafael couldn’t help the guttural laughter that burst from him.

“What?” Dominick looked confused.

“Liv and I aren’t dating,” Rafael began, his voice growing snarkier with each syllable uttered. “This explains your awkwardness at the restaurant, Liv is going to think that this is hilarious. The hot teacher I have been ‘mooning over’, her words, thought we were in a relationship. Married even.” He huffed out another short laugh.  “We work together, I work for the Manhattan DA’s office. Liv asked me to pick up Noah from school the other day, apparently I was her last resort.” 

“Hot teacher?” A dimpled smile exploded across the blonde’s face.

Rafael couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Did you hear anything else I said?”

“Something about not being married,” his grin didn’t falter once.

“Well yes-”

“Will you have coffee with me?” The teacher’s tone was coy.

Rafael didn’t need to be asked twice. “Of course, Dominick.”

“Just please,” the blond winced. “Call me Sonny, Dominick is my father.”

At the teacher’s request Rafael’s face melted into a rare warm smile. He grabbed the taller man’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Okay... Sonny.”


End file.
